A family have expressed their fury after the death of their disabled 91-year-old mother who ‘was forced to take out a second mortgage to foot an unnecessary £16,000 council bill’ .

The family of bed-ridden grandmother Dorothy Hacking blame Thanet Council for ‘disgusting treatment’ after the pensioner became overstretched trying to pay for work to meet government regulations to reduce CO2 emissions.

They say she was beset by stress and health problems after being left with no option but to take out a second mortgage for the stone-cladding repairs to make her home compliant with the Home Energy Conservation Act in Ramsgate, Kent.

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The law requires councils to reduce their CO2 emissions by almost a third within the next decade.

Her local paper took up Mrs Hacking’s case but sadly she died last Friday – the day the story was published.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Daughter Rosemary, 53, said: ‘I think it is disgusting that a disabled 91-year-old should be faced with the fear of negative equity when the council insists on doing work over which she has no control.